Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to participate in this most important debate on the crisis in Syria. This is the third time that we have met into the late hours of an evening to discuss this issue, the last time being just five months ago. Sadly, Assad continues to wage war on his very own people and the regime's depravity reaches new heights each and every day.
As focused as we are and should be on the grave and deadly situation facing the Syrian people who are being victimized daily by their own government, the regional implications of this crisis are equally troubling for Canada and for the entire international community.
The war has spilled over into neighbouring countries in many different ways, and it risks fueling broader regional instability. There are now more than 1.4 million refugees spread across Syria's neighbours, and that number is climbing every day. Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan have borne the brunt of the burden, and they should be commended for their generosity in hosting the hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have fled the carnage. It has been no easy task accommodating such a large influx of desperate people fleeing for their lives, often with little more than the clothes on their backs.
As the minister mentioned in his remarks, the situation in Jordan is particularly challenging. Zaatari refugee camp, constructed to hold 60,000 refugees, now houses more than 100,000, with more arriving every day. According to the UN, it is the second-largest refugee camp in the world. In total, Jordan has taken in around 500,000 refugees, with estimates suggesting that the number could reach 1.2 million by the end of this year. This would equal around one-fifth of Jordan's population.
The international community is doing what it can to alleviate the burden, and our government continues to do its part. In Jordan, for example, our support directly to the Jordanian armed forces has helped them cope with the refugee situation and prepare them for the risk of chemical weapon usage.
In Turkey, our contribution has provided food, water, shelter and winter clothing to as many as 170,000 displaced people at the border. Just this past January, I had the opportunity to visit two of those refugee camps in Turkey, along with the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. In one camp 25,000 people were living in containers. In another camp 15,000 people were living in tents. The Turkish government was taking very good care of those people: they were being provided with the necessary shelter, food, education for their children, prayer rooms to pray in, and craft facilities to continue to make their crafts in their traditional ways. They were being well cared for.
While we were there, Canada announced further contributions to the support of those refugees in Turkey through the International Red Crescent Society. We met with the head of the International Red Crescent Society in Turkey, who was very pleased with what Canada had offered. We met with Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs, who also thanked Canada for its contribution. We met with the chief representative of the UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who asked Canada to continue to support the refugees in those camps but not to bring them out of those camps to Canada at this time because the preference is for those people to go back to their homes when the conflict is over. The international community accepts this as a norm. It does not want any minority groups to be depopulated from a country.
Our hope is always that people will go back to their homes and be able to resume their normal lives. However, if that does not happen when the conflict is over and if people are still in fear for their lives, then of course the international community, including Canada, will resettle those people in other countries.
The refugee burden and the humanitarian needs created by it are only one of the many regional challenges posed by this war. The spillover of this conflict into Syria's neighbours poses real risk to the stability of a very volatile part of the world.
We are obviously deeply concerned by the number of cross-border military incidents in this war. Syrian shelling into Turkey and the outbreak of street fighting in Lebanon between factions supporting one side or the other of the Syrian conflict, for example, have tested the patience and at times the stability of Syria's neighbours.
The risk to Israel cannot be ignored, particularly given reports surfacing today that the Syrian government has authorized groups supporting it to launch attacks on Israel across the Golan Heights. We strongly believe that Israel has a right to defend itself and its people from terrorist threats.
While the risk of spillover conflict has been contained for now, the region is on alert. The longer this war continues, the greater the risk of regional escalation. Working through NATO, we supported our ally, Turkey, in its efforts to bolster its defensive capabilities, including through the deployment of Patriot missile batteries.
One thing is clear: Assad's desperation deepens, and he is not alone in this fight. Standing behind him offering immediate and valuable support are Hezbollah and its principal patron, Iran. Together, Iran and Hezbollah have given Assad important assistance and a needed boost to morale leaving the regime less vulnerable and isolated than it otherwise would have been. By bolstering the regime's capability, resilience and intransigence, Iran and Hezbollah have Syrian blood on their hands.
While troubling, the involvement of both is not surprising. Iran and Hezbollah have track records that are fully consistent with the kind of deadly destabilizing role they are playing in Syria. Hezbollah have their fingerprints on terrorist outrages across the globe. Hezbollah is, plain and simple, a terrorist organization. We have listed it as such and we have urged other countries to do the same. The Iranian regime, too, has again shown its true colours in Syria. Desperate to ensure the survival of one of its few remaining allies, Iran has provided support and encouragement to Assad. Having brutally crushed its own democracy movement in 2009, Iran has now taken on the Syrian people and their quest for freedom. The Iranian regime has always been about oppression. Its backing of the Assad tyranny provides yet again clear evidence of the despicable and brutal nature of that regime. While we are confident that the new Syria, when it has finally won its freedom, will reject the views and goals of al Qaeda, it could be a deadly and long struggle against an entity bolstered by its successes in Syria. This will be a challenge for the region as a whole going forward.
Our government has been consistent and clear. We have urged the opposition and the Free Syrian Army to distance themselves from this kind of sectarianism and the terrorists who use it, and instead embrace fully the tradition of diversity and tolerance that has marked Syrian history for millennia.
The war in Syria is a test for the region and Syria's neighbours are on the front line. The risks are plenty and the longer the war continues, the greater the challenges will be. Canada will continue to watch these events closely, and we will do our part to ensure that the stability of the region is not threatened.